chapterquestfandomcom-20200214-history
Coup against Larion Ursus
The Coup against Larion Ursus was a lengthy event that culminated in the removal of Larion Ursus from the position of Lord Governor of Sector Deus. Though he was ultimately removed by a coalition of powers including the Inquisition, Adeptus Arbites, Order of Bloody Tears, and Imperial Navy, the Coup was primarily driven by the Ghosts of Retribution. 'Background' There are several singular events that could be considered the beginning of the Coup against Larion Ursus, however the first incident that aroused Chapter Master's suspicions of Larion Ursus was in 339.M41. Many years earlier in 326.M41 Chapter Master had pledged himself to Sector Lord Ursus as a vassal, and one of Larion Ursus' first requests was for a permanent astartes bodyguard of 20 marines. Lieutenant Cagirates was chosen to lead Larion Ursus' Honour Guard, and performed seemingly as expected for thirteen years. However when Chapter Master visited the palace in 339.M41, Cagirates requested a private audience. The Lieutenant was acting very strangely and refused to talk out loud. However he and Chapter Master communicated in Morse Code and Cagirates reported that Sector Lord Ursus was in league with non-Imperial entities. Larion Ursus eventually interrupted the two marines in the palace courtyard, forcing Chapter Master to take a more cryptic approach. Chapter Master asked Cagirates for the "best way to defend Mormark" and the Lieutenant responded thusly: I think there's another way to defend Mormark. What you should do is keep enemy at medium range, not engaging him directly and you should attempt to understand what made him choose to attack Mormark in a way such as this. There surely must be some reserve or back up force in the background that waits for it's time to strike upon the Mormarkian system. Never assume that all you see is true. However do not underestimate main enemy force, while it is only used to distract you, it can inflict heavy casualties, if unchecked. Unfortunately the Betrayal at Varda occurred immediately after this meeting and the Chapter was distracted for many years with ongoing operations, including the hunt for Inquisitor Quixos. However the matter would be revisited in 347.M41 when Scout Master Geron was sent to infiltrate the Sector Palace and search for any clues as to the Sector Lord's true alliegences. 'Gathering Evidence, Gaining Support & Recovering the Belisarians' 'Initial Efforts' Whilst inside the palace Geron uncovered several of the Sector Lords secrets. Among the less consequential were his collection of xenos artefacts and the inappropriate sexual relatioship he had with his daughter Katriona. However more suspicious finds included a strange cogitator of non-Imperial design that was kept under heavy guard, and the fact that Larion's wife - Deidara - had a number of mysterious 'benefactors' that she met regularly for reasons unknown. An operation was launched to steal the cogitator, and the Ghost Company successfully retrieved the device and brought it back to the Tombstone for analysis. Unfortunately the device self-destructed after only some data was extracted, however with the help of the eldar Ixadiel it was discovered the Deidara Ursus had been using the cogitator to communicate with the Styrian Triarchy, a heretical non-Imperial human empire located in Subsector Mortis. Deidara had been influencing things behind the scenes to trade Imperial worlds to the Styrian Triarchy in exchange for continued peace, and spoke of entities like the Ghosts of Retribution and Iron Monks as mutual enemies of her and the Triarchy. The penal planet of Kruun was one such world, and had been taken by the Styrians a few decades earlier. It was decided that the High Lords of Terra had to be consulted, and discussing the possibility of the removal of Larion Ursus was one of the objectives of Operation White Emissary, which departed for Terra in 348.M41 and would not return until 353.M41. 'Finding the Belisarian Heirs' Simultaneously Chapter Master received a psychic vision of The Lost Belisarian Heirs, revealing a pair of youths of Belisarian descent living in the underhives of Solstreim. Chapter Master dispatched Xyptus to find them, and they were eventually located in 352.M41. Unfortunately Adrien Xerant - an agent of Larion Ursus - had found the Belisarians first, with the intent to return them to Ursus where they would presumably be killed (the Ursus Dynasty had been running a long assassination campaign against all members of the Belisarian Dynasty for over two centuries, resulting in only these two youths and Eliam Belisarius left alive and known by 350.M41). Fortunately the chapter caught up with Adrien's transport ship and recovered the Beliarian Heirs through duplicity & intimidation. The two Belisarians, twin siblings Gration and Donata, were brought to the Tombstone and cared for. They also began formal education under chapter serfs, astartes of the chapter, and Lord Regent Kerius Dermont. 'Opening Talks' In 353.M41 Operation White Emissary returned, reporting that the High Lords of Terra would approve of a coup provided it met the following conditions: #Drey Kasting will arrive to Sector Deus in person to meet the Belisarian heirs. #If the Chapter finds sufficient proof that removing Ursus from power would be beneficial to the Imperium, they are to inform High Lords of Terra before taking any action. #The Chapter would have to strike swiftly and ensure that this coup doesn't become a civil war. #Which means that Chapter would have to ensure support of at least two thirds of the major factions within Sector - Imperial Guard, Imperial Navy, Inquisition, Adeptus Sororitas, Ecclesiarchy, Adeptus Mechanicus, Imperial Nobility, Adeptus Arbites and Merchant League. Without this support the HLoT would have trouble endorsing the Coup. #Sector productivity and security must not be threatened. This is of paramount importance. #The High Lords will proclaim their support to whichever side emerges victorious and will involve themselves as little as possible, unless either the Chapter's side or Ursus started acting in anti-Imperial manner. #Coup should be as legitimate as possible. Outright assassination is only permitted in cases where the coup is on the verge of failing and turning into a civil war. In 354.M41 Chapter Master had a meeting with Canoness Preceptor Amelia Engel of the Order of Bloody Tears, presenting her the information from the cogitator. Engel accepted Chapter Master's suspicions, but requested further evidence beffore pledging her own support towards a coup. However she agreed to send a small group of Sororitas led by Palatine Serpentina to help educate the Belisarian Heirs. In 355.M41 the Chapter came across Lord Inquisitor Tomas Garant following the Battle of Sictix (355.M41). They showed him the cogitator data and shared with him their plan to overthrow the corrupted Sector Governor and his wife. Garant agreed with their intent, but due to the relatively flimsy evidence demanded large concessions for his assistance. Chapter Master refused his offer at the time and looked towards gathering more evidence. Simultaneously Lord Admiral Tyrel Hagen was rescued from assassins by the Ghosts of Retribution. As the chapter was his only protection he readily agreed to use his Imperial Navy to help their coup. Later on in 355.M41 Chapter Master approached Fabricator-General Regon of Nestorium and told him of their suspicions regarding Ursus. As Nestorium was already under scrutiny from Mars Regon was loathe to expose his Forge World to further suspicions, so he agreed to help if a substantial list of demands were met. 'Acquiring Further Evidence' A major breakthrough occurred towards the end of 355.M41 when the Ghosts of Retribution received a strange distress beacon emanating from the underhives of Tachion Primaris. After launching an investigative operation with Punisher Squad they discovered the source of the beacon was none other than Lieutenant Cagirates himself. The marine was extracted as an entire regiment of soldiers converged on his position on the orders of Larion Ursus. Back on the Aspera Dominus he revealed that the entire Honour Guard had been enthralled by a coven of rogue witches in Larion Ursus' court, who used spook to enhance their powers. Cagirates only escaped their control because the witch he was paired with had died in an accident. He also revealed that one of the witches was the prominent noble Anastasia Belladon. An operation was immediately launched to kidnap one of these witches. Using the blank Xenya Smirnova the chapter successfully kidnapped one of the witches - Larissa Mahian - and under interrogation she revealed that the coven was controlled by Deidara Ursus. Deidara Ursus was then placed under intense investigation and the chapter's spies discovered that she was receiving large shipments of illegal spook from High Judge Nestus Margon who apparently smuggled illegal goods on the side. Armed with the powerful evidence that the Sector Lord's wife was controlling a coven of rogue witches inside the Sector Court, the Ghosts of Retribution consulted all the factions they would need to support a coup. 'Negotiations' Chapter Master spent most of 356.M41 consulting with all the major factions in the Sector, and heard the conditions that would need to be met for them to support a coup: Conditions listed in '''bold' were accepted by the Ghosts of Retribution and gained the faction's support'' 'Adepta Sororitas' The Order of Bloody Tears - the primary Sororitas Order in the Sector - requested that one of the following conditions be met in return for their full support: #'Direct stipend from Sector Treasury to establish a major convent on Tachion Primaris (greatly increased SoB presence in Sector Deus)' #Sector Forge Worlds are ordered to supply the Order with equipment free of charge (would greatly anger the Mechanicum) #Chapter Master of the Ghosts of Retribution gives himself up for 10 years of penitence in the dungeons of the Order of the Bloody Tears Chapter Master did not agree to directly take money from the sector coffers for the Sororitas. However he did agree to put in a good word for them with the new Sector Lord to encourage them to reward the Sororitas appropriately. 'Adeptus Arbites' Firm adherents of Imperial Law. After hearing the evidence suggesting the presence of rogue psykers in the Sector Lord's court, Chief Judge Heliostramus of the Adeptus Arbites requested only one of the following terms be met in return for his factions full and total support: #Creation of special anti-corruption unit that would have unlimited authority in monitoring Imperial Nobility (this would anger the Nobility) #'Retaking of Kruun and establishment of an Arbiter-led penal world' #Tighter laws on xeno-artifact trade (Clashes with Merchant League's condition 3) Chapter Master ultimately agreed to retake Kruun, earning the Adeptus Arbites' support. 'Adeptus Mechanicus' Somewhat loathe to risk damaging their reputation further, but mindful of their close alliance with the Ghosts of Retribution, the Adeptus Mechanicus requested one of the following terms be met: #Dismantling of Ministorium power structures following the coup #'Help in convincing Mars to legitimise the Nestorian Learners' #Subjugation of all other Forge worlds within Sector Deus under Nestorian influence #Giving up 50% of your Vardan cybernetics industry output for Nestorian machines Chapter Master agreed to help convince Mars of the Nestorian Learners' loyalty. Securing the faction's support. 'Ecclesiarchy' Power hungry and eager to gain ground, the Ecclesiarchy demanded two of the following conditions be met, at least one of which must be condition 1 or condition 5: #Alliance with the GoR, dismantle alliance with Nestorium OR dismantle Nestorium power structures – forbid deployment of troops unless mandated by the Sector Governor #Crackdown on merchants, intelligentsia & artists (will anger Merchants & Nobles) #Institution of additional Ministorum taxes across the Sector #Extermination campaign of all non-humans (includes abhumans) across the worlds of Sector Deus #Breaking of Eldar accords Chapter Master refused to agree to their terms. 'Imperial Guard' As the Lord General Militant of the Sector Deus Imperial Guard at the time was Drakkon Ursus, brother of Larion, this faction was not approached directly. Lord Inquisitor Tomas Garant suggested the following courses of action to secure the faction's support: #Get Drakkon to help you with the coup. You suspect that he will want either to become Sector Governor or to have unlimited power as an eternal advisor to the puppet on the throne. #Organise a group of officers in the Imperial Guard to overthrow Drakkon as the coup starts – this might be very dangerous and could lead to a civil war, but if successful would be very beneficial to you. Also you could pick whoever would become the next head of the Imperial Guard. #Use an outside agency, possibly the Inquisition, secret police or Tachionian PDF to arrest Drakkon and confuse Imperial Guard for long enough that they would be faced with the fact of the successful coup and wouldn’t have time to react. This might require additional favours and careful planning. #Assassinate Drakkon, sabotage communication networks, possibly create further chaos using different means and keep Imperial Guard occupied while the coup is happening Ultimately Chapter Master chose not to pursue any of these options. 'Imperial Navy' The support of this faction was already a given, thanks to the assassination order on Lord Admiral Tyrel Hagen from which the Ghosts of Retribution were his only protection. 'Inquisition' As the Inquisition is not a strictly organised faction, Lord Inquisitor Tomas Garant would instead have to convince the rest of the Deus Conclave. He believed he could accomplish such a task but it would require much of his resources, and so he initially requested ALL FIVE of the following terms be met: #''"Get support from the High Lords and legitimise your coup, ideally before you start it. I don't want to be a rebel."'' #''"You will permanently second me a squad of your marines to act as my bodyguards and followers on my missions. This will take effect as soon as coup will begin, I prefer to survive it!"'' #''"Your new Sector will require a government. Allow me to have an input when forming it, I have a few people in mind that will be loyal and capable."'' #''"Serenia will be abandoned by the Imperium. Aforementioned people in the government will help us do that."'' #''"Chapter will owe me a single favour. It might be something serious, that could potentially require the whole Chapter to mobilise. If you are unwilling to do this, I will require a compensation of sufficient value that would allow me to get such firepower through other means, let's say around 400W. I understand that Chapters don't hoard riches, so I would be willing to take this amount directly from the Imperial treasury, through my proxies, ofcourse, after the fall of Ursus administration."'' However after being provided additional evidence in the form of Larissa Mahian and the knowledge in her mind, Garant agreed to pledge the support of Inquisition so long as he would be allowed input into the new government. 'Merchant League' Lord Barnabus Brumm of the Merchant League presented three potential conditions for the Merchant Leagues' support, of which two would have to be met: #Reduce Sector-wide taxation on merchants (clashes with Ecclesiarchy's no. 3) #Implement price controls that will force Nestorium to sell machinery cheaper (angers Nestorium) #Lift prohibition to trade in xeno artifacts with frontier worlds (clashes with Arbiter's no.3) Lord Brumm also gave a second option, that would require only one condition to be met: #'Massive bribe 500w' Requiring the support of more factions to secure the High Lords of Terra's approval, Chapter Master opted to bribe the Merchant League. 'Nobility' As an enormous spectrum of interests, with relatively little concern for Imperial laws & principles, the Nobility demanded at least two of the following three conditions be met: #Establishment of Noble Council that could veto Sector Lord #Special privileges from taxation (clashes with Ecclesiarchy's condition 3) #Permission to own personal regiments & small fleets Chapter Master refused to agree to any of these substantial conditions. 'Conclusion' After these extensive negotiations, Chapter Master had secured the support of six of the nine main factions: the Adepta Sororitas, Adeptus Arbites, Adeptus Mechanicus, Imperial Navy, Inquisition, and Merchant League. Along with the Ghosts of Retribution this coalition would be known as the Coup Council. 'The Coup' With the table set, the Coup Council enacted the coup itself. Each faction had their parts to play, though the Ghosts of Retribution took the brunt of the action. 'Positioning Forces and Neutralising Secondary Defences' The Ghosts of Retribution arrived in orbit of Tachion Primaris upon the Battle Barge Aspera Dominus. Lord Admiral Hagen and a unit of space marines boarded the Vengeance-class Grand Cruiser Spear of Destiny that stood vigil over the Sector Palace under the command of Commodore Seyshan Ursus. Hagen used his authority to relieve Seyshan of command and stand the ship down, removing a major obstacle in the way of invading the Sector Palace. Canoness Preceptor Amelia Engel and her Sisters of Battle deployed to various cathedrals and churches in the area to ensure the Iron Monks did not try to violently capitalise on the confusion. On the ground, Chief Judge Heliostramus and Lord Marshal Von Pratt led the local Adeptus Arbites in imposing curfew zones around the Sector Palace and ensured the area was kept clear of civilian and PDF elements. They also apprehended Nestus Margon but were unfortunately unable to exploit whatever access routes he used to smuggle his goods into the Sector Palace. Lord Inquisitor Tomas Garant then led a large number of Inquisitorial assets in neutralising all the local Imperial Guard units. They entered barracks & fortresses and arrested almost every senior Imperial Guard officer within a hundred miles of the Sector Palace. One Imperial Guard unit, an armoured regiment from the Freya System that was in transit at a local starport when the coup began, was plunged into confusion by contradicting orders to stand down so they deployed and took control of the starport as they tried to figure out what was going on. After a few hours they left the starport in a large column and headed towards a coastal port, intending to travel to Fort Hardrock via large ferries. Canoness Preceptor Amelia Engel led a large unit of her Sisters of Battle to head the Freyans off, and rigged the ferries to sink once the armoured regiment had loaded up their vehicles. As their war machines sank to the bottom of the ocean the Freyans found themselves surrounded by heavily armed Sororitas, and so readily surrendered. 'Seizing the Palace' Main article: Battle of the Sector Palace (359.M41) With the secondary defences neutralised, the Ghosts of Retribution invaded the Sector Palace. This was a brief yet bloody conflict but the astartes were ultimately victorious, successfully taking control of the Sector Palace and apprehending Larion Ursus himself. Unfortunately Deidara Ursus escaped the palace in the confusion, though the Aspera Dominus was watching her ship - the Ascending Storm - in orbit to ensure it didn't go anywhere. 'Complications in Orbit' Unfortunately for the Ghosts of Retribution and Lord Admiral Tyrel Hagen, the imperial assassins Ceiron and Anarxio (who had been hunting the Lord Admiral for some time) made their presence known. Ceiron attempted to negotiate with the chapter for a peaceful handover of the Lord Admiral. But as Chapter Master tried to arrange handing over Hagen in stasis with the express condition he would not be harmed until the High Lords of Terra could be contacted, Anarxio infiltrated the Aspera Dominus. The Eversor was located by a squad of chapter serfs and Anarxio killed seven marines of the Ghosts of Retribution before retreating before the assault of Captain Dreidor and Lieutenant Horatio, having reslised that his target was not on board. Anarxio escaped on a hijacked thunderhawk, having taken the Aspera Dominus' Chief Enginseer with him as a hostage to ensure he would not be shot down. The thunderhawk and hostage were found, unharmed, on Tachion Primaris soon after. With the immediate threat gone, Chapter Master refocused on the coup at hand. However one of his first actions after its conclusion was to contact the High Lords of Terra and use a favour he was owed by them to have Hagen's assassination order suspended. 'Negotiations with Ursus' While Larion Ursus had been effectively removed from any political power, the reach of the Ursus Dynasty was still vast. Members of the Dynasty held positions of legitimate power across the sector including the Governor's seats of Kronos & Asmachia, captaincy of several powerful vessels of the Imperial Navy, and direct command of a number of regiments of the Imperial Guard in addition to Drakkon Ursus' position as Lord General Militant. To ensure all these Ursuses would accept the new rule without causing trouble, Chapter Master decided to negotiate with Larion Ursus to keep his Dynasty in line. After some interrogation Larion revealed that Deidara had been the one to introduce him to a Styrian Ambassador, with which he negotiated a long term ceasefire for both sides. Larion initially refused to believe he had done anything wrong and insisted the arrangement was purely benign, however when he was presented the evidence of Deidara's heresy & betrayal in dabbling with sorcery and trading worlds to the Styrians, he relented. Larion offered the following terms: #''I will denounce my wife as the heretic that she (apparently) is.'' #''All members of my Dynasty will be cleared of all charges and granted immunity from pre-coup era actions.'' #''Our holdings, possessions and rights will remain intact and unchallenged apart from those that belong or are tied to the office of Sector Governor.'' #''Drakkon Ursus will be removed from his current position as Lord General Militant of the Imperial Guard.'' #''Larion Ursus will be granted Planetary Governorship as decided by the new Sector Governor, appropriate for his seniority status.'' #''Larion Ursus will forever bear the title of Former Belisarian Regent, to legitimise his rule and to ensure smooth transition of power. Imperial chronicles, for the good of the common citizenry and Imperial peace, should write that power was handed over peacefully and without unnecessary confusion once the Belisarian heirs were discovered.'' #''The Ursus Dynasty will pay respects and acknowledge the Belisarian Dynasty as their rightful lords.'' #''All ties of vassalship between the Ghosts of Retribution and Ursus Dynasty will be honourably dissolved.'' Chapter Master agreed to these terms, and thus the era of Sector Lord Larion Ursus came to a close. Gration Belisarius was soon thereafter inaugurated as the new Lord Governor of Sector Deus, to a great deal of fanfare and celebration on Tachion Primaris. His sister Donata and distant uncle Eliam also took high positions in his court. Meanwhile Lord General Militant Drakkon Ursus (still unaware of the change of power) was invited back to the palace under the guise of a Dynasty gathering. Once he arrived, isolated from his vast Imperial Guard assets, he was formally relieved of his position and demoted to Lord General of Athena Prime. With Drakkon removed from command of the Imperial Guard of the entire Sector, there were no remaining Ursuses with the clout to challenge the office of Sector Lord. A few months later the position of Lord General Militant was filled by Lucas Xerant, governor of Adamant Prime and patrarch of the Xerant Dynasty. 'Aftermath & Repercussions'